New Type of Quantum Oscillations Stemmed From the Strong Weyl Fermions - 4f Electrons Exchange Interaction

TL;DR

This paper reports a novel quantum oscillation phenomenon in a magnetic Weyl semimetal caused by strong interactions between Weyl fermions and 4f electrons, revealing new quantum states.

Contribution

It introduces a new type of quantum oscillations originating from the interplay of Weyl fermions, 4f electrons, and spin-orbit effects in a magnetic semimetal.

Findings

Observation of quantum oscillations in resistivity and heat capacity.

Identification of destructive interference from spin-split Fermi surfaces.

Implication for exploring new quantum phenomena in 4f-electron materials.

Abstract

The interplay between magnetism and the topology of electronic band structure may generate new exotic quantum states. Here we report on a new type of quantum oscillations in the temperature dependent electrical resistivity and specific heat at a constant magnetic field in a polar magnetic Weyl semimetal (WSM) NdAlSi. These novel quantum phenomena arise from the destructive interference between quantum oscillations from the spin-split Fermi surfaces due to the strong Weyl fermions-4f electrons exchange interaction combined with Rashba-Dresselhaus (RD) and Zeeman effects. Our findings pave a way to explore unprecedented quantum phenomena in 4f-electron based magnetic semimetals.